The Blinn College women’s golf team powered its way to a second-place finish at the South District Championship on Monday and earned an automatic bid in the upcoming NJCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship tournament.
The Buccaneers placed second among eight teams competing at the Brenham Country Club in Brenham, Texas, firing a combined 48-over par. The nationals appearance will be the second in program history and first since 2021. Tyler Junior College won the South District tournament to also qualify.
“Our players and assistant coach Gary Belt zeroed their focus on the South District tournament, they worked hard, and all of that hard work and preparation paid off big time,” Blinn head coach David Johnson said. “As a coaching staff, we could not be more proud of them.”
Sophomore Emily Madeley (17-over par) and freshman Rattanavarin “Pai” Tassaneetipagorn (18-over) placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the individual standings.
“We shot so well on the first day of play, and after that I was confident we were going to make it to nationals,” Tassaneetipagorn said. “Sometimes you just have a feeling, and I looked at our players and just knew we were going to get the job done.”
Sophomores Natalie Peebles and Kimberly Tiefenbach placed 11th and 18th, respectively, in the 41-golfer competition.
The national tournament takes place May 19-24 at the Duran Country Club in Melbourne, Fla.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 47 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
